Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words Page #2

I had the fortune

of meeting Ruth the first day on the set.

And she was an absolute excellent teacher

for the English language.

And then, being of Swedish descent,

understood maybe my character

and knew how to show me America,

how to teach me, not only the language,

but maybe the feeling

and the thoughts, and, you know...

I am so grateful to her,

because she has shaped me

to what I am today very much.

A great deal of her is in me.

From Sweden, you took, uh

Your first husband went with you to

From Intermezzo, I went back to Sweden

to do the picture I had signed up to do.

And then the war started

and Selznick asked me to rush over.

I took my little girl with me.

He stayed on in case he had to

maybe go in to the war, be needed.

And then as Sweden didn't

get into the war, he came over later.

I am so happy

we're all together again.

All together in America.

I didn't go to Hollywood

with my mother.

I stayed with my father

in Rochester, New York.

He was going to medical school

while my mother was making movies

in Hollywood.

And she would occasionally come to visit,

which must have taken

a long time on the train.

Uh, however she came.

And I do remember she came,

but she came for visits.

I go to Rochester

at the end of every shoot,

and my husband comes here

when he's on holiday.

Pia lives with both of us.

Sometimes with me, sometimes with him,

but I stayed nearly a year in Rochester.

I was there last winter.

January 11, 1941.

I would've given anything to do

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Will I ever get a better part

than the little whore Ivy Peterson?

Or a better director than Victor Fleming?

I've never been so happy.

I feel like I'm flying.

Do you want to look at my side?

Well, don't you want me to?

You aren't half a fast one, aren't you?

I live a solitary life

when I'm working. I live at the studio.

I haven't had a day off in 14 weeks.

I don't have time to go home to Rochester.

Pia is very happy with her dad.

It's another six weeks

before the end of the shoot.

I won't have seen Pia for six months.

But one can't have everything.

Then we moved to Benedict Canyon.

And that was the first sort of home

that I remember.

And, uh, we had dogs.

I played with dogs a lot.

Dear Ruth,

I'm very busy, as usual.

A home, a husband, children

It should be enough for any woman.

I thought I'd get a new role soon

after Jekyll and Hyde.

But I've had nothing in four months.

It's two months too long.

I think about every day that's wasted.

Only half of me is alive.

The other half is packed away

in a suitcase, suffocating.

What should I do?

Hollywood, July 5, 1942.

My dearest Mollie,

At last I'm working again.

I'm working on a film called Casablanca.

An exciting film.

Humphrey Bogart is the male lead,

if you know who he is.

He's interesting,

not the typical "glamour boy."

A lot of men have gone off to war.

It's difficult for producers to find

actors, cameramen and directors.

How can this madness continue like this?

My German's a little rusty.

It's the Gestapo.

They say they expect

to be in Paris tomorrow.

They're telling us how to act

when they come marching in.

With the whole world crumbling,

we pick this time to fall in love.

Yeah, it's pretty bad timing.

Where were you, say, ten years ago?

Ten years ago.

Let's see.

I was having a brace put on my teeth.

Where were you?

Looking for a job.

Things are good for me, Mollie.

I'm so happy.

They write and say such lovely things

about me, I could cry for joy.

I've everything I always wanted. It's

incredible when your dreams come true.

From Jennifer Jones,

previous year's winner,

to Ingrid Bergman,

for her performance in MGM's Gaslight.

Congratulations, Ingrid.

Your artistry has won our votes,

and your graciousness has won our hearts.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for my Oscar,

and I hope that in the future

I'll be worthy of it.

June 14, 1945.

I'm going on a big adventure.

I'm off to Europe.

I'll travel around, entertaining American

troops in France, Italy and Germany.

While the allies

are deciding the fate of Germany,

the great shattered city of Berlin

is slowly coming back to life.

The people of the capital move about

the ruined streets in growing numbers.

Marketplaces, once packed with food,

now have only the rations

of dehydrated potatoes.

Two and a half pounds to last ten days.

People are

strolling again down the Champs-lyses

to the Place de la Concorde.

The French are free in a free Paris.

Beautiful Ingrid Bergman

snaps time between pictures,

to show up in person

in Berlin and elsewhere.

When Ingrid Bergman comes to Berlin,

she performs only for the Americans.

Germans are not admitted.

Dear Ruth,

I've met someone who means a lot to me.

He's Robert Capa,

a famous war photographer.

We traveled from Paris to Berlin together.

I've fallen in love.

Write to me that you'll be kind

and heartbreakingly beautiful,

and that you'll chill a bottle

of champagne for March 15.

Don't sign hundreds of contracts

that will make you less of a person

and more of an institution.

You must be careful.

Success is more dangerous

and corrupting than misfortune.

I've just called you,

my darling Swedish girl in Hollywood.

I love you truly.

Arrivals at Heathrow.

Film star Ingrid Bergman and director

Alfred Hitchcock come in from Hollywood.

Path's reporter and Hitch swap jobs.

Our reporter directs

and Hitchcock puts the questions.

- This is your first time in England?

- No. No.

You will be happy to know

I spent my honeymoon in England.

Tell me, I think that the diet in England

is gonna do you a lot of good.

- Doesn't do me any good, I might tell you.

- No?

- It's gonna be good for you?

- I don't worry about it.

But I worry about you a bit.

Well, thank you very much,

and please don't worry.

The Swedish-born

actress wearing no makeup,

yet looking lovelier than Hollywood

Monday morning. Everyone's tired.

November, 1945.

Mollie, my friend.

We're hard at work

on Hitchcock's Notorious

He's so talented.

Every day with him is pure happiness.

He brings out the best in me,

things I never imagined I possessed.

He mixes serious with humor,

comedy with drama.

I thought Cary Grant

would be conceited and stuck-up,

but he's one of the nicest costars

I've ever worked with.

There's one more drink left apiece.

Shame about the ice.

- What is?

- Gone

- Who's gone?

- The ice

Why do you like that song?

Because it's a lot of hooey.

He taught her how to be... to lighten up.

Because, as Hitchcock would say,

Ingrid took films

more seriously than life.

So I think that was true.

So I think he had that influence.

Dear Ruth,

Petter knows what's going on

between me and Capa.

I haven't denied it.

Bob sometimes comes to Hollywood for work.

We meet,

but I know he'll never tie himself down.

He's always off somewhere.

His Hungarian influence

has been good for me.

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